Motorcity: The Final Battle
by CynderFanForever
Summary: The final battle has begun. Kane knows the truth about his daughter, Red has gone on a rampage, and the Burners don't have anyone to turn to. Is this the end for the Burners?
1. Revelation

Motorcity: The Final Battle

Revelation

Mike was looking over his plans for inflitrating Kane Co.. Next to him stood Julie, a redhead who acted mostly as his second-in-command and also the mole for their team, the Burners, as she had an internship at Kane Co., which allowed her to get the inside information.

The plan showed that the Burners would ride around the main building of Kane Co. and shoot at every defense, then inflitrate the inside.

But it would be hard.

Abraham Kane, leader of Kane Co., was more cunning than he looked, and they knew he would've stepped up the security since their last few visits.

"So are we almost done, Mike?" asked Julie.

"We are," he answered. "I think our plans look good. If this doesn't work, I don't know what will. Are you ready for this, Julie?"

"I am, Mike."

"Good. I'm going to go get Texas, Jacob, Chuck, and Dutch suited up for this." Those were the names of the other Burners. "Get suited up and make sure Nine Lives is ready to go. You got that?"

Julie nodded. Nine Lives was the name of her modified yellow 21st century police cruiser. It was able to produce decoy hologram-cars to throw pursuers off her trail, cloak to near invisibility, and deploy smoke screens, oil slicks and electromagnetic pulse mines. It also had a high precision sniper beam under the hood.

The rest of the Burners, except for Chuck, had their own cars also.

Mike's car was known as Mutt, Jacob's was known as Sasquatch, Texas's was Stronghorn and Dutch's was Whiptail. Chuck didn't have a car, as it had been ruined beyond repair, and so he rode with Mike most of the time.

Julie exited the garage they used as their headquarters and went over to Nine Lives. After checking the car over, she turned around and saw Mike and the others exiting the garage. Mike had a smile on his face.

"It's time. Is Nine Lives ready?" he asked.

"Yes, she is," Julie said.

"So now do we get to battle some Kane Co. dirtbags?" Texas interrupted. "Texas is ready!" Texas seemed to always talk in the third person point of view, and though he was annoying at times, he was very loveable.

"We are ready. Get in!" Mike climbed into Mutt, as did Chuck, and the rest of the Burners climbed into their cars.

They started them up, and then they were on their way. After minutes of driving through parts of Motorcity, they reached the gate that led into Detroit Deluxe. Towering above every building was Kane Co. Tower. That was where the Burners were headed to.

Inside Mutt, Mike was staring at the tower long and hard. "It's time we get this over with," he muttered. "I just hope we don't kill any innocent civillians."

"I'm pretty sure that none of them are around," said Texas. His avatar popped up on Mike's dashboard.

"Are you so sure about that, Texas?" inquired Mike. Then he realized something. "Hey Jules, did you tell Claire to get out of Deluxe?" Then Julie's avatar popped up. Because of her car being called Nine Lives, her avatar had cat ears.

"I did," said Julie. Jules was her nickname. Claire was her best friend.

"Good. We're almost there, so hang on. I'm pretty sure Kane will have a few defenses there. He probably doesn't know that we're coming, but those defenses are just for those who are tresspassing. And we are definitely tresspassing, don't you think?"

"Definitely."

After a few more minutes of driving, they arrived at the tower. Mike stared at it and thought, _This is where it all ends, Kane_.

* * *

Kane stood in front of a control room screen. It showed what was happening outside. He could see the Burners and their cars arriving at the tower. He knew that they were too naive to think he would know that they were coming.

He said to the person standing far behind him, "Are you ready for this?"

"I am," they said. Just as the person balled up their fists, red electricity ran up his arms. "I want to kill Chilton for ruining my life."

"I understand. And you will get that chance, but for now, just injure him, and then bring him to me. Do you understand, Red?"

"I do."

"Good." Kane smiled and stared at the screen. "It's time. Get out there, and make daddy proud!"

* * *

The Burners arrived at the bottom of the tower. But before they could fire any of their weapons, the tower's defenses fired at them. Suddenly Mike knew that something was wrong.

"Kane must've known we were coming," he told Julie. "But how?"

"I don't know," she admitted. "This isn't good. We're going to need all of our weapons to do this."

"You're right." Then he saw the bright crackling red light at the top of the tower. It began to move down towards them. He realized what it really was. "Oh my God, no!"

It landed right in front of them.

"Please don't tell me that it's-" Chuck began, but Mike cut him off.

"It is," he interrupted. "Be prepared to drive if you have to."

Red got up and began moving towards Mutt. Mike unbuckled himself, and then began to get out.

"Mike, what are you doing?" exclaimed Julie.

"I have to do this. I need to end this once and for all," he told her. "Just keep shooting Kane's defenses." Lasers and other attacks flew all around them.

Mike made his way over to Red.

"Long time, no see," he said.

"Hello, Mike," Red said. "I'm glad you showed up. It's time we end this once and for all!"

"My thoughts exactly."

Both Red and Mike threw a punch and both of them dodged. Mike was able to land a punch on Red's abdomen, but it was protected by armor.

"I see you have some new armor," Mike said. "Did Kane give it to you?"

"Yes, he did," Red answered. "What about it?"

"Nothing. I was just asking."

"Enough talk! I am going to kill you right now, right here, in front of all your Burner friends! Say good-bye to your life, Chilton!"

Punch after punch followed. One of them connected with one side of Mike's face. A bloody mark appeared there. He looked over at Julie, who was still shooting at the defenses. Suddenly, a cannon at the top of the tower fired two yellow beams down at her and Nine Lives.

"NO!" yelled Mike. Julie saw it coming, and decided to drive into the courtyard in front of her. She knew that the beams were heat-seeking.

Just as she crashed through the door that led into the courtyard, the beams caught up to her and hit Nine Lives. There was an explosion, and then all the other Burners could see was smoke.

"JULIE!" yelled Mike. "NO!"

Red was laughing maniacally. "HAHAHAHA! Looks like this is the end for her, Chilton."

Mike ran into the courtyard. When he looked at Nine Lives, what he saw scared him.

* * *

Kane was watching the video of the attack. He saw the yellow car crash into the courtyard and the beams touch the car, blowing it up.

Suddenly one of his men ran into the room. "Mr. Kane, we have one of the Burners," he announced.

"I know. Take me to them, now!" ordered Kane.

The soldier took through the building and down to the courtyard. He saw the yellow car and saw that the top had been blown off of it.

Mike Chilton stood near the car, staring inside the car, fear in his eyes.

"Chilton!" roared Kane. "You little dog! What the heck-" He stopped in midsentence as he looked inside the almost-destroyed car. He saw the one person he never hoped to see inside one of the cars.

"Julie?" he whispered.

Julie opened her eyes and looked at Kane. "D-dad?"


	2. Hatred

Hatred

Kane looked up at Mike. "How dare you! I hated you so much, wanted to kill all of you Burners, but you never told me my own daughter is one of them!"

"Well, it isn't my fault that she joined on her own!" Mike yelled back.

"That may be true, but it doesn't matter. I'm surprised you didn't know about my daughter's true identity any earlier."

Mike knew that it was time to reveal the secret he'd been holding for close to a year.

"I already knew that Julie was your daughter, Kane!" Mike roared.

"How the heck did you know?" asked Kane.

"It wasn't hard. Same red hair, same eye color. But do you know what was funny to me?"

"What?"

"Her eyes were filled with happiness and were nice and warm, while your eyes are filled with darkness and are ice cold. Just like your heart."

"I'd suggest you don't talk about Kane like that, Mike," Chuck suggested, but Mike ignored him.

"I'm only telling the truth, Chuck. I'm amazed that Kane hasn't realized he's that evil. Then again, which evil person ever does?"

There was a flash of red light, and Red suddenly appeared next to Kane. "I knew it!" he exclaimed. Kane turned to him, rage in his eyes.

"YOU KNEW THAT MY DAUGHTER WAS ONE OF THEM!" Kane bellowed. At that, Red simply nodded. "THEN WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME! I TRUSTED YOU, GAVE YOU A DARNED PARTNERSHIP! SAVED YOU FROM THAT CHASM WHEN CHILTON TRICKED YOU AND YOU FELL DOWN IT!"

"So what?" Red said cooly. "Like any of that should mean something to me. I told you once before, I work alone, Kane. After all, you sent Chilton to destroy the home I lived in. Because of you, I lost the only home that I ever knew! You and Chilton ruined my life, and because of that, I will now ruin yours!"

Red went over to the wreckage of 9 Lives and reached into it and grasped Julie by the throat. As she was lifted out, Kane, Mike, the rest of the Burners, and the citizens of Deluxe who had gathered around the wreckage could see that blood ran down the left side of Julie's head and it also trickled down her mouth. Scratches were all over her face and body.

"No, don't touch her!" roared Mike and Kane at the same time.

"Too late," said Red. "This is where everything ends for you, Kane. And you too, Mike, as I believe that you are in love with her."

Kane looked over to Mike and blankly stared at him, hoping that he would not say that he was in love with his daughter. If he did, Kane would have to take Mike by the neck and strangle and kill him.

Red was about to snap Julie's neck when Mike gripped the skull in his pocket, then suddenly whipped it out. As he threw it into the air it turned into a staff. He ran at Red and jabbed him in the chest with the staff. With a wild cry, Red flew off his feet and hit a pillar two feet away. The pillar almost broke in two. Mike could hear a crack, and then he knew some of Red's armor was broken.

Mike leaned over Julie, who had fallen to the ground, as Red's grip had loosened when he was hit by Mike with the staff. He felt the side of her neck. There was somewhat of a pulse, but it was very faint; this scared Mike very much.

Kane watched and balled his fists as Mike leaned over her. His worst enemy was leaning over his daughter to check if she was okay. He would not tolerate anything like this. He would kill Mike.

And he didn't care who the heck saw him kill his very worst enemy.

As he made his way over to Mike, the other Burners stepped forward to try to stop him. He knew they weren't going to let him attempt to kill their leader. Mike was more important to them than mostly anything else. They knew that Kane was going to try and wipe his daughter's memory of all that had happened, as Kane had done things such as that to those he hated most of all and those whom he thought needed it. They were sure that Kane believed his own daughter was in need of the mind-wiping, especially since she had been a member of the Burners, the team that Kane hated.

Meanwhile, Red began to get up. Part of his armor had been broken when he had hit the pillar. And that armor had been part of the weapons. It had been the incinerator located on his left hand that would kill almost anything or anyone as soon as they were hit.

Now he was going to use the one remaining incinerator on his right hand to kill not only Chilton, but also Kane and his daughter.

He raised his hand, ready to end their lives, starting with Kane's daughter.

But Kane saw it coming and took a laser pistol out of his pocket. He aimed it at Red's chest and then suddenly pulled the trigger.

It hit Red square in the chest.

But then the blast bounced off Red's chest and hit a pillar somewhere in the courtyard. It seemed that his armor was too hard for even a blast from a laser pistol to break through. And that was saying something, as a blast from a laser pistol was powerful.

"Get the heck out of this place!" roared Kane. "You are no longer welcome here, especially since you attempted to kill my daughter!"

"You're telling me this, Kane? When it's the Burners who should be told this? After all, they adopted your daughter into their fantasy, and they made you almost kill her!" Red exclaimed. "If you don't take it all out on them, then this entire thing is nothing but a God-forsaken façade! Nothing but a piece of crap! Don't you realize that, Kane? Or are you too stupid to realize?"

Kane rolled his eyes and balled his fists as if he was going to punch Red. Even if he did, Mike thought, he would hurt his hand on Red's armor. Mike knew; he had done so himself.

Kane, forgetting that he had made the armor so that nobody could punch through it, tried to punch Red, but only cried in pain when it connected and made no dent in the steel. When he brought his hand back, blood dripped from his knuckles.

"Ha-ha," laughed Red. He grasped Kane by the neck. "You have no strength over me. Now say good-bye to your daughter. This is where it all ends!"

Red was about to kill Kane, but was stopped when a current of electricity traveled up his body and knocked him unconscious. Red just lay there, eagle-spred on the ground. He was barely breathing. Mike couldn't really tell if he was dead or not.

But then he suddenly jumped up and landed on the hood of Mutt.

"You may have won this battle, Chilton. But I will return. And there is no darned thing you can do. All of this- Kane, his daughter, the Burners- it's all a piece of crap. Don't you realize that, Chilton? If you don't, then you truly are dim-witted."

With a loud, high-pitched laugh, Red disappeared in a flash of red light. Silence fell over the Burners, Kane, and the citizens of Deluxe.

Mike could only think of all that had happened. The attack on the tower had failed, Julie had almost been killed, and now both Kane and Red were going crazy. What in the heck was happening? His whole life was suddenly falling apart.

Suddenly Kane grasped him by the arm. His teeth were bared, rage still fresh in his black eyes.

"I am going to kill you, Chilton!" he hissed. "Or, for right now, I'm going to put you in prison. It's your fault my daughter is close to death, and for this you shall be executed. You hear me?"

Mike didn't care. All he wanted was for Julie to be safe. He didn't even care if he was executed. He wanted her to be safe.

"GUARDS!" roared Kane. Guards ran to the sides of the Burners, excluding Julie, and hand-cuffed them. Mike and the others were led to the tower. Mike knew that they would all be imprisoned.

He closed his eyes, and sighed. His last thought before he was taken into the tower was, _At least Julie is safe_.


	3. Prison

Prison

Julie opened her eyes. As she opened them, all her memories seemed to be flooding back into her mind. How long had it been since all that had happened? And had happened since?

Another question that came into her mind was, where in the heck was she? She looked around and saw she was in her room in Detroit Deluxe. The white walls were bare, and everything else in the room seemed to be pure white with nothing touching the surface of them.

She heard a door open and then close. Her father entered her field of vision.

"How are you feeling, Julie?" he asked in a fake sympathetic voice. Julie could tell he wasn't really worried. Because of this, she didn't answer.

Silence fell over them for a while.

Finally, Kane began to speak again. "You probably don't know how you are here, but I don't even wish to tell you why you are in your room."

"I remember only pieces of all that happened," Julie said finally. "I remember you finding me in the car."

"I don't wish to talk about that, Julie!" Kane snapped. For a second, he looked enraged, but then he regained his composure. "I am sorry, Julie. Just promise me that you will never mention the Burners ever again. Do you promise?"

Julie hesitated on nodding. It wasn't until Kane said in a warning voice, "Julie...", and then she finally nodded and answered him.

"I do understand," Julie said.

"Good."

Another moment of silence entered the room. Julie wondered what had happened to Mike and the other Burners. She knew it was dangerous, but she had to ask.

"Dad, what did you do with the other Burners?" she asked.

"If you must know, they are in the prison. They will be executed for their wrongdoings. They have done many wrongs, as you know, Julie. For this, they must be punished. Do you not agree?"

"No, I don't agree! They may have done wrongs, but that does not mean that you can just go ahead and execute them for this!"

Rage filled her father's eyes. "Do not talk to me like this!" he roared at her. "They must be executed, and they will. THERE IS NO DARNED THING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT!"

Obviously very angry, Kane stormed out of the room. Julie did her best to get up. She was able to, but as she stood, she was in extreme pain. She limped over to her door and put her ear to it. She could faintly hear her father talking to someone.

"I want you to keep an eye on her. Tomorrow night we will have to erase her memory. She must not remember a thing about her experience as a Burner. Understand?"

Julie didn't know who he was talking to, but she did know that she had to escape that night, or her memories of being a Burner would be erased.

As she limped back to her bed and lay down, she wondered what had happened to Mike and the other Burners.

* * *

Mike opened his eyes. He saw prison bars in front of him. He then saw Chuck's blond hair. Mike felt what he was on, and then he realized that the surface he was on was wood. He jumped up and saw that he was in a prison cell. Texas, Chuck and Dutch were in there with him. Why were they there?

It was then that the memories of the night before flooded back into Mike's brain. He thought of Julie. Where was she now? What was Kane doing to her? And then another thought popped into his mind.

_Is Julie even still alive_? Mike wondered. He didn't want to think of such a thing, but he couldn't help it. After all, she had been injured during the infiltration of the tower, and terribly too.

Also, where had Red disappeared to? All these memories began to painfully pound in Mike's brain.

As he thought, he heard shoes scuffling across the prison floor.

"Who's there?" Mike called out.

"None of your business, Chilton," replied the person. The voice was that of a male, there was no denying it. And when the man came into view, Mike gave a gasp.

The man was an old friend of his who had been there when Mike had realized how evil Kane was. The last time Mike had seen him, it had been in Motorcity, and Mike had knocked him unconscious. The reason Mike had done this was because he had tried to take Mike back to Deluxe and was going to allow the destruction of an old and supposedly abandoned apartment building. But even though Mike had knocked him unconscious, the apartment building had been destroyed. And one of those still living in the building had become Red, who was now one of Mike's worst enemies.

"Dale!" Mike exclaimed. "Long time, no see."

"You think, Chilton?" snapped Dale. "The last time I saw you, you betrayed Kane and knocked me out, all to save those people that were supposedly in the building. I heard from Kane that he recruited one of those who once lived there. He escaped last night, I believe, after almost killing Kane's 'daughter,' - and I never knew he had one, to be honest - who also turned out to be one of the Burners, a team of which you are the founder of."

"Yes, Julie was one of us," Mike said. "So what?"

"Well, I just want to know why she did it."

"I'm not going to reveal any of that. The only thing I am going to say to you is that she did it for a really good reason."

Dale stared at him, rage burning deeply in his eyes. He then balled his fists as if he was going to punch Mike. But just as he reached his arm back, he hesitated and put his arms back down. "God smiles brightly upon you at this moment, Chilton," Dale snarled at him. He then walked away.

Mike sighed and turned back to the other Burners.

"Who was that guy, Mike?" Dutch asked him.

"An old friend," Mike replied. "The last I saw him, we were going to knock down an old abandoned building for Kane - this was when I worked for him - and it turned out that people still lived in the building. Even though I got all of those people out, the building was still destroyed, and all those people lost their homes."

"Really?" gasped Chuck.

"Yeah. One of those people has now become one of my worst enemies. That person has now become Red," Mike continued.

Texas, Chuck, and Dutch gasped.

"So that led to why he's now one of our enemies," Chuck concluded. "And he blames you for it all! Doesn't he realize it's really Kane's fault?"

"He does, but he blames me even more, as I led the whole operation. I don't think that's right, but he's doing it anyway," Mike told them all. "Now all we need to worry about is getting out of this cell. I have a plan in mind, but I don't know if it will exactly work. I guess we'll just have to wait and see."

* * *

Julie limped out of her bedroom. Her father had allowed her to leave her room, but did not allow her to go anywhere near the prison, as he believed that if she was allowed to so, she would free Mike from the prison cell so that he could escape his execution. _He really wants Mike dead_, Julie thought. But she wasn't going to let her father kill the only person she'd ever loved.

She decided that after lunch she would sneak over to the prison and speak to Mike. Her father, after all, was still talking to the citizens of Deluxe about what had happened the night before. So the only thing she now had to worry about was Tooley, her father's right hand man. With any luck, as dim-witted as Tooley was, she could persuade him to let her go to the prison.

When she entered the cafeteria, she realized that it was completely empty. Well, almost completely. The only other person in there was Tooley.

"Oh, hiya, Julie!" Tooley greeted. "Nice to see you again!"

"Hi Tooley," Julie greeted back. "What's up with you?"

"Not much. I see you're limping. Why is that?" he asked.

"Fell out of bed and sprained my ankle," she lied. _Dad must not have told him what happened, and he must not have been there when it happened_.

"Oh, well I hope it gets better!"

"Thanks, Tooley. Hey, Tooley, after breakfast, I think I'm going to go over to the prison and look around. I think, if I am to become the leader of Deluxe in the future, I need to know where everything is and just how dangerous some of the prisoners are. If my dad asks, then tell him I'm at the showers."

"Okay. But why do you want me to lie to him?"

"Well, I haven't told him I want to be the successor for Deluxe. I'm going to tell him later this week. So could you please keep it a secret, Tooley?"

"Sure. Have fun, Julie!"

Julie smiled, then got her breakfast and quickly wolfed it down. She got up, brought the plate to the disposal station, and made her way out of the cafeteria and out of the building and to the prison.

When she entered the building, she could only sigh at the torture instruments at the front desk. There were hooks, ropes, knives, swords, daggers, and many other instruments of evil. The warden stood at the front desk, wearing the usual white uniform and silver badge. He was reading a book titled _The History of Detroit Deluxe _by Kane himself. It was not a complete history, but it told all the way up to when the Burners were formed.

As Julie made her way to the front desk, the warden looked up.

"Ah, if it isn't the young Julie herself," he said.

"Hello, Mick," Julie replied. "It's nice to see you again."

Mick laughed. "Did you hear, Julie? They caught the Burners last night!" he exclaimed. "I wasn't there when they were captured, but I was still awake when Mr. Kane and a few soldiers brought them in. Oh boy, I was so excited when they were brought in. I was practically doing cartwheels!"

Julie didn't find this funny. They both just stood there in an awkward silence. Then Julie cleared her throat.

"So Mick, can I go see the Burners, please?" she asked.

"Why would you like to see those scum-faced idiots, Julie?" Mick asked.

"Because, if I am to become the next leader of Deluxe, and I really want to become the new leader after my father passes away, I need to take a look at all the major prisoners. Wouldn't you agree?"

"Kind of. But hopefully you're not going to try and let them escape. You won't, right, Julie? Say 'yes' please."

"Don't worry, Mick, I'm not going to allow them to escape. There's no reason to worry," Julie quickly assured him. It was amazing that Mick was about to let her go see the other Burners. _If he had any wits_, Julie thought, _he wouldn't let me anywhere near them_. That thought amused Julie.

"Okay. Well, let me take you to see them."

He got up from behind his desk. Julie followed him from the front to a room all the way in the back of the prison. When they came to a large cell at the very end of the prison, Julie saw that there, in the large cell, were Mike and the other Burners. Texas, Dutch and Chuck were sleeping. When Mike saw her, a look of shock crossed his face.

"I'll leave you here for now," said Mick. "I'll be coming back in twenty minutes for you, Julie. Got that?"

"Yes, Mick," she said.

Mick nodded and walked away.

When she was sure he was gone, Julie looked at Mike and cried, "Mike, I am so sorry!"

"Julie, none of this is your fault," Mike told her. "You had no way to know what was going to happen. After all, how in the heck could you have? Anyway, before we get on to the serious crap, how are you feeling?"

"Better. I'm still limping. And I'm a little tired," she explained.

"Well, at least you're not too seriously injured," he said. "Which is amazing. The last time I saw you, you were bleeding and crumpled on the ground." Seeing Julie's shocked expression, he added, "Red took you out of the wreckage of 9 Lives and was about to kill you, but I stopped him. Unluckily, he escaped, and when he did, he vowed to kill us."

"That's not good. What did you do?"

"Nothing. As soon as he disappeared, Kane made his soldiers take us to this prison and we were knocked out. I guess Kane picked you up in his arms and took you to your room in the main building."

"Yeah, he must've, because when I woke up, that's where I was. At the moment, he doesn't know I am here, so it's a little dangerous. If he catches me, I don't know what he's going to do."

"When you woke up, did he come into your room?" Mike asked.

"Yes, he did. He asked me how I was feeling. We talked a bit more, and then I asked where you guys were. He blew up and yelled at me that you guys would be executed and that there is no darned thing I can do about the execution."

Mike's eyes widened. "He wants to execute us?" he exclaimed.

"Yes, he does," Julie answered. "And that is why I am going to try and get you out later. Later I am going to slip something into whatever crap Kane may be feeding you here, and then you will have to use that to break out. Understand?"

Mike nodded. "Thanks, Jules. I'll really be owing you one after this."

"Yeah, I know. I gotta go, Mike. I bet Kane is looking for me."

As she hurried off, Mike called to her, "Julie, you don't have to worry about your true identity. I don't care if you're _his _daughter or just a sweet girl named Julie, all I care is that you do what you believe is right!"

Julie heard this and smiled. At least Kane was willing to forgive her for keeping her true identity a secret.

But now she needed to get back to her room or at least the building before Kane realized she was missing.

As soon as she entered the building, she saw Kane asking something to a soldier near the entrance to the first mechanical room. Julie looked around, and then saw a hallway she could slip into that also could take her to her room.

She was able to do so without her father noticing. Julie hurried to her room and when she arrived, she dashed right in, jumped into the bed, took off her shoes, and pulled on the blanket.

Her right leg, which was her injured leg, throbbed from her hurrying so fast to the room. _At least now_, she thought, _I can take the weight off of it and get some nice good rest. Maybe by tonight it'll be feeling a heck of a lot better_.

As she just began to fall asleep, the door to her room opened. Kane came in, with Claire right behind him. Julie smiled; she hadn't seen Claire since telling her to get out of Deluxe before the Burners' failed mission to defeat Deluxe took place.

"So, you decided to sleep in all day?" Kane asked.

"Yeah, I wanted to get the weight off my leg," Julie told him. "It's feeling a heck of a lot better, too."

"I see. Well, while I was walking through Deluxe, I found Claire here searching for you. She just wanted to come up and say hello to you. Now that I think of it, I may leave you two alone so that you can talk. Would that be okay with you?"

"It most certainly would, Mr. Kane," Claire said. A big smile was stretching across her face. Julie knew that the smile was fake.

Kane nodded and walked away. When she was sure Kane was gone, Claire said to Julie, "So he knows?"

"Yeah, he does," Julie answered with a deep sigh. "It sucks to say it, but my father knows my secret."

"Crap, that isn't good. Where are Mike and the others?"

"In the prison. I'm planning to break them out tonight, though. And to do this, I'm going to need your help. You go into the prison just to talk to Mick, right?"

"Yeah, I do it because I want to make sure none of the Burners are in there. But what difference does it make if they really _are_ in there, Jules?"

"Go in there and talk to him anyway. While there, slip something into his drink! He should fall asleep after that. Then I can sneak in there tonight, when everybody is asleep. And then I can get in there and free Mike and the other Burners," Julie explained. She was talking very fast and very softly so that Kane couldn't overhear them.

As she finished speaking, Claire nodded. "You got it, Jules. I'll make sure to do just that. And after this, I will escape along with you guys. You mind that?"

"Not at all. Now all we need to do is rest. It won't be till later that you'll have to do this. Understand?"

"I do. I'll set an alarm for around eight P.M.. That good?" Claire asked.

"It is," Julie replied. "Now go. Don't tell anyone else about this."

"Don't worry, I won't." Claire hurried off and the door closed behind her.

Julie smiled. She lay back down on her bed and began to doze off. As she did so, her last thought was, _At least I will be able to get Mike back tonight_.


End file.
